Latest work by Kazuo Ishiguro appears simultaneously in the UK and China, Zhang Kun in Shanghai reports.

The new novel by Nobel-prize winning British author Kazuo Ishiguro is a groundbreaking work in many respects, not least that it is one of the few books that have been simultaneously published in its original language and Chinese at the same time.

Klara and the Sun was published in Chinese by Shanghai Translation Publishing House on March 3(March 2 in Britain), the same day the English book was launched by the British publisher Knopf.

"This is the first time we have succeeded in achieving simultaneous publication with our international partners," says Huang Yuning, deputy director of Shanghai Translation Publishing House.

The first print run of 100,000 copies for the Chinese edition of Klara and the Sun was a success, and another 20,000 copies are in production, she says.

Huang introduced the book at a reading event in downtown Shanghai on April 10. Klara and the Sun is the first book by Ishiguro since the author won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2017, and six years since his last book, The Buried Giant, was released, Huang says.